WO2019230711A1

WO2019230711A1 - Robot system

Info

Publication number: WO2019230711A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/021064
Authority: WO
Inventors: 武士芝田; 祐也室井
Original assignee: 川崎重工業株式会社
Priority date: 2018-05-29
Filing date: 2019-05-28
Publication date: 2019-12-05
Also published as: TWI716888B; TW202003362A; CN111937131A; US20210233796A1; JP2019207930A

Abstract

The present invention is characterised by comprising a first mounting part and a second mounting part for mounting a workpiece, and a transfer device positioned between the first mounting part and the second mounting part, wherein: the transfer device comprises a transfer device interior space, part of the peripheral edge thereof being demarcated by a first wall provided on the first mounting part side and a second wall provided on the second mounting part side opposite the first wall, and a robot for transferring the workpiece between the first mounting part and the second mounting part; the first mounting part is positioned spaced apart from the first wall by a first distance in a first direction linking the first wall and the second wall; in the first direction, the second mounting part is positioned spaced apart from the second wall by a second distance, which is greater than the first distance; and the robot is positioned close to the second wall.

Description

Robot system

The present invention relates to a robot system.

Conventionally, robot systems are known. As such a robot system, for example, a substrate transfer device as proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-198981 (Patent Document 1) is known.

The substrate transport apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes a substrate transport robot disposed in a preparation space, a hoop opener that is an opening and closing device that opens and closes a hoop, an aligner that is disposed in the preparation space and adjusts the orientation of the substrate, and a preparation space. And a preparation space adjustment device for adjusting the gas to be filled. The substrate processing apparatus includes a processing apparatus main body that processes the substrate in the processing space, and a processing space adjustment device that adjusts a gas filled in the processing space.

JP 2013-198981 A

By the way, in Patent Document 1, the hoop and the processing device are arranged close to the outer surface of the preparation space. However, the degree of freedom of the arrangement of the hoop and the processing device, and the degree of design of the entire device is taken into consideration. Absent.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a robot system with excellent design freedom.

In order to solve the above problems, a robot system according to the present invention includes a first placement unit and a second placement unit for placing a workpiece, the first placement unit, and the second placement unit. A transfer device disposed between the first mounting unit and the first mounting unit. The transfer device is provided between the first wall and the first wall. The workpiece is transferred between the transfer device internal space in which a part of the peripheral edge is defined by the second wall provided on the part side, and the first placement portion and the second placement portion. And the first mounting portion is disposed at a first distance from the first wall in a first direction connecting the first wall and the second wall. And the second mounting portion is arranged in the first direction so as to be separated from the second wall by a second distance that is farther than the first distance. The robot is characterized by being arranged close to the second wall.

According to the above configuration, the second placement unit is arranged in the first direction connecting the first wall and the second wall, separated from the second wall by a second distance farther than the first distance, The robot is arranged close to the second wall. As a result, it is possible to provide a robot system with excellent design freedom.

The robot may have a robot arm, and a joint axis provided at a base end of the robot arm may be arranged close to the inner surface of the second wall.

According to the above configuration, the effect of the robot system according to the present invention can be made remarkable.

For example, a plurality of the second placement portions are provided, and the second distance is the most in the first direction from the second wall to the second wall among the plurality of second placement portions. The distance to a distant 2nd mounting part may be sufficient.

In the second direction in which the second wall extends, the robot includes a second placement portion farthest from the second wall and a second placement portion furthest from the second wall. You may arrange | position between.

According to the above configuration, the robot can easily access each of the plurality of second placement units.

The robot may be arranged such that the distance from the second placement unit farthest from the second placement unit is equal to the distance from the second placement unit farthest from the second.

For example, a plurality of the first placement portions are provided, and the first distance is the most relative to the first wall among the plurality of first placement portions from the first wall in the first direction. The distance to a distant 1st mounting part may be sufficient.

The plurality of first placement units may be arranged close to the outer surface of the first wall.

According to the above configuration, the robot can easily access each of the plurality of first placement units.

The workpiece is a semiconductor wafer, the first placement unit is configured as a part of a housing device for housing the semiconductor wafer, and the second placement unit is configured to be attached to the semiconductor wafer. The robot is configured as a part of a processing apparatus for performing processing, and the robot is configured as a semiconductor wafer transfer robot for transferring the semiconductor wafer between the storage apparatus and the processing apparatus. May be.

According to the above configuration, the robot system according to the present invention can be applied to a semiconductor wafer manufacturing site.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a robot system with excellent design freedom.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the whole structure about the modification of the robot system which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout all the drawings, and redundant description thereof is omitted.

(Robot system 10)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the robot system 10 according to the present embodiment includes four accommodating devices 20a to 20d for accommodating a semiconductor wafer W (work), and three for performing processing on the semiconductor wafer W. The processing devices 30a to 30c, and the transfer devices 40 disposed between the storage devices 20a to 20d and the processing devices 30a to 30c are provided.

(Container 20)
Each of the accommodation devices 20a to 20d may be configured as a so-called FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) capable of accommodating a plurality of semiconductor wafers W stacked in the vertical direction. That is, the storage devices 20a to 20d each have a hollow container body formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a container side door capable of opening and closing an opening formed on one side surface of the container body. It may be a sealed structure suitable for a clean environment.

The accommodation devices 20a to 20d have first placement portions 22a to 22d for placing the semiconductor wafer W, respectively. In other words, the first placement units 22a to 22d are configured as a part of the storage devices 20a to 20d, respectively.

(Processing device 30)
The processing performed by the processing apparatuses 30a to 30c on the semiconductor wafer W may be, for example, heat treatment, impurity introduction processing, thin film formation processing, lithography processing, cleaning processing, and etching processing. Further, each of the processing apparatuses 30a to 30c may be configured as an inlet or an outlet for performing one process on the semiconductor wafer W. For example, the processing apparatus 30a may be configured as an inlet for performing heat treatment on the semiconductor wafer W, and the processing apparatus 30b may be configured as the outlet.

The processing apparatuses 30a to 30c have second mounting portions 32a to 32c for mounting the semiconductor wafer W, respectively. In other words, the second placement units 32a to 32c are configured as a part of the processing devices 30a to 30c, respectively.

(Transfer device 40)
The transfer apparatus 40 includes a transfer apparatus internal space 41, a semiconductor wafer transfer robot 50 (hereinafter simply referred to as “robot”) for transferring the semiconductor wafer W between the accommodating apparatuses 20a to 20d and the processing apparatuses 30a to 30c. 50 ”).

(Transfer device internal space 41)
The transfer device internal space 41 has a known structure in which the degree of air cleaning is ensured. The transfer device internal space 41 has one peripheral edge formed by a first wall 42 provided on the storage devices 20a to 20d side and a second wall 44 provided on the processing devices 30a to 30c side so as to face the first wall 42. The part is defined. The first wall 42 and the second wall 44 extend in parallel with each other in plan view. In the following description, a direction connecting the first wall 42 and the second wall 44 is referred to as a first direction. A direction in which each of the first wall 42 and the second wall 44 extends (that is, a direction connecting a third wall 46 and a fourth wall 48 described later) is referred to as a second direction.

The first wall 42 is provided with first openings 43a to 43d through which a part of the robot 50 can pass. The first openings 43a to 43d are formed at positions corresponding to the storage devices 20a to 20d, respectively. The first openings 43a to 43d may be configured to be openable and closable by providing a first room side door (not shown). Thereby, the air washing degree in the transfer apparatus internal space 41 may be ensured.

A second opening 45 through which a part of the robot 50 can pass is formed in the second wall 44. The second opening 45 is formed from the vicinity of one side edge (left side edge in FIG. 1) in the second direction of the second wall 44 to the vicinity of the other side edge (right side edge in FIG. 1) in the same direction. Has been. The second opening 45 may be configured to be openable and closable by providing a second room side door (not shown). Thereby, the air washing degree in the transfer apparatus internal space 41 may be ensured.

In the transfer device internal space 41, one side edge (the left side edge in FIG. 1) in the second direction of the first wall 42 and one side edge (the same front side) in the second direction of the second wall 44 are mutually connected. The third wall 46 extending along the first direction so as to be connected, the other side edge (the right side edge in FIG. 1) in the second direction of the first wall 42, and the second wall 44 in the second direction A part of the peripheral edge is further defined by a fourth wall 48 extending along the first direction so as to connect the other side edge (same as above) to each other.

(Robot 50)
The robot 50 according to the present embodiment is a so-called horizontal articulated three-axis robot, and includes three joint axes (joint axis AX1, joint axis AX2, and joint axis AX3). The robot 50 includes a base 52 and a lifting shaft (not shown) that is provided on the upper surface of the base 52 and can extend and contract in the vertical direction.

The robot 50 includes a robot arm 54 attached to the upper end of the lifting shaft, a hand 56 (end effector) attached to the tip of the robot arm 54, and a robot controller 58 that controls the robot arm 54 and the hand 56. And further.

The elevating shaft provided on the upper surface of the base 52 is configured to be extendable and contractable by an air cylinder (not shown). The robot arm 54 includes a first link 54a and a second link 54b that are formed of a long member extending in the horizontal direction.

The first link 54a is attached to the upper end of the lifting shaft at one end in the longitudinal direction via a joint axis AX1 (joint shaft provided at the base end of the robot arm) driven by a servo motor (not shown). Thereby, the 1st link 54a is attached to the raising / lowering axis | shaft in the state which can be rotated around the axis line extended in a perpendicular direction.

The second link 54b is attached to the other end portion of the first link 54a via a joint axis AX2 whose one end portion in the longitudinal direction is driven by a servo motor (not shown). Thereby, the 2nd link 54b is attached to the 1st link 54a in the state which can be rotated around the axis line extended in a perpendicular direction.

The one end of the longitudinal direction of the hand 56 is attached to the other end of the second link 54b via a joint axis AX3 driven by a servo motor (not shown). Thereby, the hand 56 is attached to the second link 54b so as to be rotatable around an axis extending in the vertical direction.

The hand 56 has a base portion 56a including the joint axis AX3 and a holding portion 56b attached to the distal end portion of the base portion 56a. The holding portion 56b is divided into two forks at the tip side, and is configured in a Y shape in plan view.

(Robot controller 58)
The specific configuration of the robot control unit 58 is not particularly limited. For example, a configuration realized by a known processor (CPU or the like) operating according to a program stored in a storage unit (memory) may be used.

(Arrangement of each component)
Here, the arrangement of each component described above will be described in detail. The accommodating devices 20a to 20d are arranged close to the outer surface of the first wall 42 of the transfer device internal space 41, and are arranged side by side adjacent to each other. In other words, the first placement portions 22a to 22d are provided apart from the first wall 42 by the same first distance D1 in the first direction.

Here, the first distance D1 is a distance between the outer surface of the first wall 42 and the center of the semiconductor wafer W formed in a disk shape in plan view. Since each of the accommodation devices 20a to 20d is arranged close to the outer surface of the first wall 42, the end on the first wall 42 side of each of the semiconductor wafers W placed on the first placement portions 22a to 22b. The distance between the portion and the outer surface of the first wall 42 is 0 or almost 0.

The processing devices 30a to 30b are each provided at a different distance from the second wall 44 in the first direction. The processing device 30a is disposed farthest from the second wall 44, the processing device 30b is disposed second farthest, and the processing device 30c is disposed closest.

Here, the second distance D2 from the second wall 44 to the second placement portions 32a to 32c corresponding to the first distance D1 from the first wall 42 to the first placement portions 22a to 22d is the first distance D1. This is the distance to the second placement portion 32a farthest from the second wall 44 among the second placement portions 32a to 32c in the direction. As illustrated, the second distance D2 is greater than the first distance D1. That is, the second placement portion 32a is disposed away from the second wall 44 by a second distance D2 that is farther than the first distance D1.

The robot 50 is arranged close to the inner surface of the second wall 44. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the joint axis AX <b> 1 arranged at the end on the second wall 44 side in the first direction of the base 52 of the robot 50 and the upper surface of the base 52 is the second wall 44. It is arranged close to the inner surface.

Further, the robot 50 is disposed between the second placement portion 32a farthest from the second wall 44 and the second placement portion 32b furthest away from the second wall 44 in the second direction. ing. In the present embodiment, in particular, the robot 50 is disposed at the center between the farthest second mounting part 32a and the second farthest second mounting part 32b. That is, the illustrated distance d1 and distance d2 are equal to each other.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, the joint axis AX <b> 1 arranged at the end on the second wall 44 side in the first direction of the base 52 of the robot 50 and the upper surface of the base 52 is the second wall 44. The second mounting portion 32a farthest from the second wall 44 and the second mounting portion 32b farthest from the second wall 44 are disposed at the center.

(Example of processing steps for semiconductor wafer W and effects)
Here, an example of the heat treatment process performed on the semiconductor wafer W using the robot system 10 according to the above embodiment will be described. Further, the effects produced by the robot system 10 according to the above embodiment will also be described.

First, the robot arm 54 is brought into a posture capable of holding the semiconductor wafer W placed on the first placement unit 22a of the accommodation apparatus 20a from the initial state. In addition, the robot 50 can be in the said attitude | position because the hand 56 passes the 1st opening 43a drilled in the 1st wall 42. FIG.

Next, the semiconductor wafer W placed on the first placement unit 22a is held by the holding unit 56b of the hand 56.

Further, the robot arm 54 is set in a posture capable of mounting the semiconductor wafer W held by the holding unit 56b on the second mounting unit 32a of the processing apparatus 30a.

At this time, since the robot 50 is disposed close to the inner surface of the second wall 44, even the second mounting portion 32a disposed relatively far from the second wall 44 can reach with sufficient margin. Can be delivered. In addition, since the second placement portion 32a is disposed relatively far from the second wall 44, for example, another second placement portion between the second wall 44 and the second placement portion 32a. The part 32a can be provided in various arrangements. Further, when the semiconductor wafer W held by the holding unit 56b is placed in a posture that allows the semiconductor wafer W to be mounted on the second mounting unit 32a of the processing apparatus 30a, the

processing apparatuses

30b and 30c that may be an obstacle are appropriately avoided. Can reach you.

Since it is as described above, it is possible to provide the robot system 10 that is excellent in the degree of freedom of arrangement of the second placement unit 32 and, in turn, the robot system 10 that is excellent in the degree of freedom of design.

Then, the semiconductor wafer W held by the holding portion 56b is placed on the second placement portion 32a.

Next, a heat treatment is performed on the semiconductor wafer W. The semiconductor wafer W after the heat treatment is placed on the second placement unit 32b of the processing apparatus 30b. That is, here, the processing apparatus 30a is configured as an inlet for performing heat treatment on the semiconductor wafer W, and the processing apparatus 30b is configured as an outlet thereof.

Further, the robot arm 54 is set in a posture capable of holding the processed semiconductor wafer W placed on the second placement unit 32b.

At this time, the robot 50 is arranged in the center between the second placement portion 32a farthest from the second wall 44 and the second placement portion 32b furthest away from the second wall 44 in the second direction. Therefore, the robot 50 can easily access the second placement units 32a to 32c.

It should be noted that the reach of the robot 50 is less likely to reach the second placement portion 32 as the robot 50 is arranged farther from the second wall 44. Therefore, by arranging the robot 50 as described above, the robot 50 can easily access the entire second placement units 32a to 32c.

Then, the processed semiconductor wafer W placed on the second placement unit 32b is held by the holding unit 56b.

Next, the robot arm 54 is brought into a posture in which the processed semiconductor wafer W held by the holding unit 56b can be placed on the first placement unit 22b of the accommodation apparatus 20b.

Further, the processed semiconductor wafer W held by the holding unit 56b is placed on the first placement unit 22b.

As described above, the semiconductor wafer W can be heat-treated using the robot system 10 according to the above embodiment. In the same manner, the robot system 10 similarly applies impurity introduction processing, thin film formation processing, lithography to the semiconductor wafer W placed on any of the accommodation devices 20a to 20d by any of the processing devices 30a to 30c. Processing, cleaning processing, planarization processing, and the like can be performed.

(Modification)
From the above description, many modifications and other embodiments of the present invention are obvious to one skilled in the art. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be construed as illustrative only and is provided for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode of carrying out the invention. The details of the structure and / or function may be substantially changed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a modified example of the robot system according to the embodiment of the present invention. Note that the robot system 10 ′ according to this modification has the same structure as the robot system 10 according to the above-described embodiment except for the arrangement of the robot 50. Therefore, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the same description will not be repeated.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the present modification, the robot 50 is arranged close to the second wall 44, and the second mount second from the distance d1 from the farthest second mounting portion 32a. It arrange | positions so that the distance d2 from the mounting part 32b may become equal. Even when the robot 50 is arranged in this way, the robot system 10 ′ having excellent flexibility in arrangement of the second placement unit 32, and thus the robot system 10 having excellent design freedom, as in the case of the above embodiment. ′ Can be provided.

In the above embodiment and the modification thereof, the case where the base 52 and the joint axis AX1 of the robot 50 are arranged close to the inner surface of the second wall 44 is described, but the present invention is not limited to this case. That is, the robot 50 only needs to be arranged close to the second wall 44. Specifically, for example, only the joint axis AX <b> 1 (joint axis provided at the base end of the robot arm) is arranged close to the inner surface of the second wall 44, and a part of the base 52 moves the second wall 44. It may be arranged outside the transfer device internal space 41 across the bridge.

In the above-described embodiment and the modification thereof, the case where the first placement unit 22 (and the storage device 20) is provided side by side by four toward the outer surface of the first wall 42 has been described, but is not limited thereto. That is, the 1st mounting part 22 may be provided 1 or more and 3 or less, and may be provided 5 or more.

When a plurality of first placement portions 22 are provided, the plurality of first placement portions 22 may be provided at a different distance from the first wall 42 in the first direction. Good. At this time, the first distance D1 is a distance from the first wall 42 to the first placement portion 22 farthest from the first wall 42 among the plurality of first placement portions 22 in the first direction. .

In the embodiment and the modification thereof, the case where the second opening 45 is drilled from the vicinity of the one side edge in the second direction of the second wall 44 to the vicinity of the other side edge in the same direction has been described. However, it is not limited to this. For example, the second opening 45 may be formed at each position corresponding to the processing devices 30a to 30c in the second direction of the second wall 44. In addition, two or four or more second openings 45 may be formed in the second wall 44. At this time, each of the plurality of second openings 45 may be configured to be openable and closable by providing a second room side door.

In the above-described embodiment and the modification thereof, the case where three second placement units 32 (and the processing apparatus 30) are provided at a distance different from each other from the second wall 44 is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. . That is, one or two second placement units 32 may be provided, or four or more may be provided.

In addition, when the 2nd mounting part 32 is provided with two or more, the several 2nd mounting part 32 may each be spaced apart and provided in the 1st direction from the 2nd wall 44 by the same distance. . Furthermore, only a part of the second placement portions 32 among the plurality of second placement portions 32 is provided to be separated from the second wall 44 by the same distance, and the remaining second placement portions 32 are provided to the second wall 44. May be spaced apart from each other by a different distance. At this time, in the second direction, the second placement part 32 that is farthest from the second wall 44 and the second placement part 32 that is the second most distant from the second wall 44 are the same distance from each other. It may be separated from the wall 44.

Further, when a plurality of the second placement units 32 are provided, the plurality of second placement units 32 may have a height difference. Thereby, it is possible to further improve the degree of freedom in designing the second placement unit 32. In addition, since it is the same also about the some 1st mounting part 22, the description is not repeated here.

In the embodiment and the modification thereof, the robot 50 includes the second placement portion 32a farthest from the second wall 44 and the second placement portion furthest away from the second wall 44 in the second direction. Although the case where it arrange | positions in the center with 32b was demonstrated, it is not limited to this.

For example, in the second direction, the robot 50 is not located between the center of the second placement part 32a farthest from the second wall 44 and the second placement part 32b farthest from the second wall 44. May be arranged. In addition, for example, the robot 50 may be disposed at the same position as the processing device 30 farthest from the second wall 44 in the second direction, and only needs to be disposed close to the inner surface of the second wall 44. You may arrange | position in another position.

In the above embodiment and its modification, the case where the robot arm 54 has the two

links

54a and 54b has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the robot arm 54 may have three links. The robot arm 54 may have one or four or more links.

Note that, by increasing the number of links of the robot arm 54, for example, the semiconductor wafer W held by the holding unit 56b of the hand 56 can be mounted on the second mounting unit 32 of the processing apparatus 30. In the posture, it is easy to reach the reach by appropriately avoiding the processing device 30 that may be an obstacle.

Further, the servo motor provided at one end of the first link 54a, the servo motor provided at one end of the second link 54b, and the servo motor provided at one end of the hand 56 can be independently rotated. With the configuration, the effect can be made more remarkable.

In the embodiment and the modification thereof, the first placement unit 22 is configured as a part of the storage device 20 and the second placement unit 32 is configured as a part of the processing device 30. Although described, it is not limited to this. For example, the first placement unit may be configured as a part of the processing device, and the second placement unit may be configured as a part of the storage device.

In the embodiment and the modification thereof, the case where the robot system 10 is applied to the semiconductor wafer manufacturing site has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the workpiece can be moved between the first mounting unit and the second mounting unit. It may be applied to other sites that require transfer. In such a case, the first placement unit and the second placement unit may be configured as a part of a device other than the storage device or the processing device.

Further, for example, the robot 50 is placed on a wall (the first wall 42 or the second wall 44) having a large number of placement parts (the first placement part 22 or the second placement part 32) arranged in the first direction. You may be arranged near. At this time, the number of placement parts arranged at the same position in the first direction is not counted. In this way, by placing the robot 50 close to the wall with various distances from the placement unit, the degree of freedom in designing the robot system 10 can be improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Robot system 20 Storage apparatus 22 1st mounting part 30 Processing apparatus 32 2nd mounting part 40 Transfer apparatus 41 Transfer apparatus internal space 42 1st wall 43 1st opening 44 2nd wall 45 2nd opening 50 Robot 52 Base 54 Robot arm 56 Hand 58 Robot controller AX Joint axis W Semiconductor wafer

Claims

A first placement portion and a second placement portion for placing the workpiece;
A transfer device disposed between the first placement unit and the second placement unit,
The transfer device is
A transfer device in which a part of the periphery is defined by a first wall provided on the first placement portion side and a second wall provided on the second placement portion side so as to face the first wall. Internal space,
A robot for transferring the workpiece between the first placement unit and the second placement unit;
The first placement portion is disposed at a first distance from the first wall in a first direction connecting the first wall and the second wall;
The second placement portion is arranged in the first direction so as to be separated from the second wall by a second distance that is farther than the first distance,
The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the robot is arranged close to the second wall.
The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the robot has a robot arm, and a joint axis provided at a base end of the robot arm is arranged close to an inner surface of the second wall.
A plurality of the second mounting portions;
The second distance is a distance from the second wall to the second placement portion farthest from the second wall among the plurality of second placement portions in the first direction. The robot system according to 1 or 2.
In the second direction in which the second wall extends, the robot includes a second placement portion farthest from the second wall and a second placement portion furthest from the second wall. The robot system according to claim 3, which is disposed between.
The robot system according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the robot is arranged such that a distance from the second farthest placement unit is the same as a distance from the second farthest placement unit.
A plurality of the first mounting portions;
The first distance is a distance from the first wall to the first placement part farthest from the first wall among the plurality of first placement parts in the first direction. The robot system according to any one of 1 to 5.
The robot system according to claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of first placement units is arranged close to an outer surface of the first wall.
The workpiece is a semiconductor wafer;
The first mounting portion is configured as a part of a storage device for storing the semiconductor wafer,
The second mounting unit is configured as a part of a processing apparatus for processing the semiconductor wafer, and
The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the robot is configured as a semiconductor wafer transfer robot for transferring the semiconductor wafer between the storage device and the processing device.